The following slip and fall case didn’t happen in Albuquerque or even New Mexico, but the circumstances could happen to anyone across the country. In this particular case, a woman and her child were in a McDonald’s when the child slipped on some water on the ground of the fast food restaurant.

The woman filed a lawsuit on behalf of her child, seeking up to $1 million in damages for the slip and fall. In the lawsuit, the woman claimed that there were no “wet floor” signs posted near the spill, and that nothing was done to address the spill even though employees at the McDonald’s were aware of it.

According to the suit, the child suffered numerous injuries on the right side of her body resulting in serious pain. The slip and fall happened back in 2014, and the case was scheduled to be heard recently, but an out-of-court settlement was reached. It is unknown how much the settlement was for.

This story demonstrates two things about slip and fall cases. The first is that many restaurants and establishments are slow to react to spills, slippery conditions, or other dangerous circumstances involving their premises and foreign liquids. When they do this, they open themselves up to liability. Which leads to the second lesson: most slip and fall cases will be settled out of court. This is just the reality of most pieces of civil litigation, and it is important for the plaintiffs to realize that going in.

Let’s say that as you are walking across or through someone else’s premises, you slip and fall on the ground. As a result, you suffer injuries that greatly impact your life. You also have questions about liability in this situation, because you think that the property manager or building owner was negligent in this case. So how do you prove that?

There are numerous factors to consider. The first two relate to the property manager or owner: could they have prevented the accident, and did they act within the their duty to maintain reasonably safe conditions on the property? Proving both of these points can be more difficult than it seems. For example, a leak that causes a puddle that you slip on may seem like the property owner didn’t try to prevent to accident or maintain a safe premises. But if there is a drainage grate that allows the water to flow away, this counts as a property manager exercising his or her due diligence.

Then there are two factors that relate to you, the victim: were you careless or clumsy in your actions? In other words, when the slip and fall happened, were you doing anything that was illegal, reckless, careless, or clumsy? If so, you may not have a particularly strong case to establish a property owner’s fault.

In any case, when you suffer as a result of a slip and fall accident, you should consult with an experienced personal injury attorney that has handled premises liability cases before.

While the following truck accident story is being used more as a joke than it is a news story, it still represents an important opportunity for us to talk about truck accidents and the many different risks that they pose to drivers out on the road — and the various ways that they can be caused by the truck driver or the vehicle itself.

A truck overturned in London recently, spilling it’s cargo — a vast quantity of milk cartons — all over the road. This caused an understandable furor on social media, as users made light of the saying “there’s no use crying over spilled milk.” It doesn’t appear that anyone was injured in the accident and many people enjoyed a lighthearted laugh as a result of the accident.

However, a truck’s cargo is no laughing matter at all. There is a serious point to be made under the surface of this story. How was the cargo secured in the first place? Was it even and balanced on the truck’s flat bed? Who were the people involved in the loading process of the cargo? Does the trucking company or the truck driver have previous safety violations or issues that have been reported?

The answers to these questions are very important in any truck accident that involves falling cargo, because the objects that fall off a truck can cause serious damage to other vehicles. Or, in other cases where the cargo isn’t balanced, a truck could overturn and topple onto another vehicle.

Source: TIME, “Dairy Truck Accident Serves As a Reminder to Us All About Spilled Milk,” Cady Lang, March 16, 2018

It is a chaotic and stressful time, but after a car accident you need to do everything in your power to be calm and prepare yourself for what comes next. There are some simple steps that you can take that will greatly improve your standing after a car accident, and many people fail to do this.

It will be difficult to relax and prepare yourself for the aftermath of an accident simply because the shock of a car accident — even a minor one — can cause people to become angry and not act like themselves. This is why the first step is to be calm.

Once you have collected yourself and you are ready to handle the next few steps, you should get out of the car and check on the other people who were involved in the crash. If they are in need of medical attention, then call 911 and do whatever the responders tell you to do. If it isn’t a medical emergency situation, then you need to exchange information with the people involved in the crash.

When this is completed, you can then do some needed evidence gathering. Take out your phone ans snap some pictures of the accident scene, including the vehicles involved, the damage done (and any shrapnel on the ground), and any signage or street lights that played a role. If you are considering a lawsuit after the crash, then consult with an attorney.

Source: FindLaw, “After a Car Accident: First Steps,” Accessed March 7, 2018